City Withdrawals Could Leave Daytona Alone In Merger

June 21, 1985|By Mike McKee of The Sentinel Staff

Suppose consolidation passes a referendum vote in October. Then imagine that every government except Daytona Beach withdraws two months later.

Based on a city charter approved by the state Legislature in May, that would abolish Daytona Beach and force its former leaders to reorganize the government as a new city. Starting from scratch, the new city, which might not be known as Daytona Beach, would abide by a new set of rules, but it also would win control of all unincorporated land around and west of the current cities in the Halifax area.

That concerns officials in municipalities hoping to survive the vote because they say it would cut them off from their natural growth areas and prevent them from ever expanding again. The charter gives the new city exclusive rights over annexation in a massive reserve area west of the current municipalities and the unincorporated districts that opt out of the new city. Consolidation advocates insist that such a scenario would never happen, that mathematically it is impossible for consolidation to win the areawide vote, only to be rejected on Dec. 10 by voters in every area except Daytona Beach. Foes of consolidation say nothing is impossible.

Ormond Beach Mayor Nick Fortunato estimates that 41 percent of the voters in the October referendum will be from Daytona Beach. A heavy vote in favor of the concept in Daytona Beach could swing the referendum toward consolidation if the votes in the rest of the area are close but against the idea, he said. Then the other governments could pull out, leaving Daytona Beach as the sole supporter.

Fortunato predicts a heavy turnout everywhere, but said Daytona Beach should be the heaviest because the referendum on Oct. 15 falls the same day as general elections for the Daytona Beach City Commission.

Jon Kaney, one of the most influential backers of consolidation, said voters in the Halifax area aren't as ''fickle'' as Fortunato believes. He said it will take 51 percent of the voters to pass consolidation in the first place and that he does not think another 51 percent would pull out two months later. If Daytona Beach is going to be the only city supporting consolidation, then the idea will die at the polls on Oct. 15, Kaney said.

''This thing has to sell across the board,'' he said. ''You have got to have strong community support to pass this thing.''

If the unexpected happens and Daytona Beach is the only city refusing to pull out of the union, the charter will be binding, said state Sen. Ed Dunn, D-Ormond Beach.

There are no requirements saying a minimum number of cities must participate before the law goes into effect. Whatever governments make up the new city will be required to live up to the charter.

Dunn said the new municipal charter, heralded by its drafters for its detailed growth management and environmental protection passages, would be a substantial improvement over any current charter, even Daytona Beach's. However, Dunn added, the charter could be modified or repealed in the next session of the state Legislature.

Daytona Beach Mayor Larry Kelly said a transition government, established to oversee the orderly transfer of government power from current municipalities to a new city, would need to make revisions.

The charter bill, which became law Tuesday at midnight, envisions a regional city with far-ranging powers over water supplies, sewer expansion, growth, fire and police protection and other urban services. It sets comprehensive goals for the new city and establishes environmental policies believed to be the toughest ever put in a municipal charter, but a pullout by all governments except Daytona Beach could dilute its impact.

Trustee boards for each former government are required to guarantee a degree of local identity. The charter also calls for a 12-person council to be elected from single-member voting districts and a powerful mayor chosen areawide.

Daytona Beach only has six commissioners and a mayor, who are chosen areawide even though all but the mayor must live in separate districts. The charter also calls for salaries of $7,500 a year for each council member and $15,000 for the mayor, far above the $4,200 paid Daytona Beach commissioners and the $6,000 for the mayor.

The charter also guarantees jobs for all city employees except the managers, attorneys and their assistants. If Daytona Beach is the only city to stick with the new city, manager Howard Tipton, attorney Frank Gummey and their assistants could be out of a job unless reappointed by the ruling council.

What worries officials in Ormond Beach and Port Orange most is the fact that the new city would have control of all future annexations. Some consolidation opponents say that fact is almost enough to convince them to vote for merger.

Having control of the reserve areas and remaining unincorporated sections of the Halifax area would stifle municipalities that do not go along with the vote, consolidation opponents say.